Many businesses and other enterprises are increasingly automating their systems in order to reduce operating cost and improve service. When such systems are used by the customers of these businesses and other enterprises, automation typically involves self-service facilities which allow customers to satisfy their own requirements. For example, financial institutions and library systems are beginning to use self-service terminals in order to reduce costs and to improve service. In the case of libraries, the libraries' patrons may use these self-service library terminals to conduct at least some of their business with the libraries.
Known self-service library terminals typically include a cradle on which circulating items to be checked out from, or returned to, a library can be placed. A scanner reads a code, such as a bar code, which has been placed on the circulating item by library staff and which identifies the circulating item. Typically the scanner projects a visible scan line in order to read the code. The visible scan line used by current scanners do little more than read codes, and are not arranged to provide information back to library patrons. Accordingly, known self-service library terminals are under-utilized.
Known self-service library terminals also do not lead a user through a loan transaction and do not provide feedback to the user regarding the proper use of the self-service library terminal. For example, known self-service library terminals do not indicate to the user when a circulating item has been placed in an improper position on the cradle.
Moreover, when known self-service library terminals are configured according to the specifications of a particular library, the configuration data is not conveniently generated and distributed to each of the self-service library terminals provided by a library. Accordingly, unnecessary expense and time consuming labor are required to configure the self-service library terminals of a library.
In addition, known self-service library terminals typically rely on only one circulating item receiving area, such as a cradle, in order to receive circulating items whose codes are to be scanned by the scanner during check out and/or check in. This limitation means that either current self-service library terminals are limited in the types of circulating items which can be checked out and/or checked in by the patron without the help of a member of the library staff, or library staff must be careful about the placement of codes on the circulating items and patrons must be careful about the placement of the different kinds of circulating items on the cradle so that their codes may be properly scanned.
Furthermore, known library self-service terminals have many other limitations. For example, (i) known self-service library terminals do not process financial credit transactions, (ii) they do not store loan transaction information during periods when the communication link between the terminal and the main circulation system of the library is down so that this loan transaction information can be later transferred to the main circulation system when the communication link is back up, (iii) they do not determine incorrect placement of a patron's library card on the cradle so that the identification of the patron processing a check out or check in transaction can be determined, and (iv) they do not permit a library patron to continue a transaction at the option of the patron if the self-service library terminal is in an error state.
The present invention is directed to a library terminal that solves one or more of the above noted problems.